Copper Label

Somehow, I’ve been wrongfully added to Marlboro’s mailing list of people who give a shit. I don’t know how. Despite the junkmail, I’ve actually landed a couple of useful freebies from the deal: a Zippo, a pair of copper-plated (?) dice, and a deck of cards. All of which I’ll probably find useful somewhere in my perpetual booze-swilling schedule (not that that’s a good thing).

Seth: I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an anti-fan. My post wasn’t about your band specifically. It was more a condemnation of the Copper Label CD taken as a gestalt work. I can’t say that Underhero stuck out as particularly bad or good… just more of the same. One song is not enough for me to definitively say “Underhero sucks!”, but I’m not encouraged to investigate further.

Someone smoker in my office received the CL CD and left it out for anyone to grab. I was the unwilling victim and I am unwillingly listening to this CD as we speak. I agree with all of the aformentioned comments – this CD sucks and I have yet to hear one redeemable song.

HA! I actually got it from a coworker as well, who basically just left it on my desk with a note that read, “Cool, huh?” She was referring to the design, I guess (we design there).

First thing I noticed was that all the amplifiers had no names (no Fender, Marshall, etc.) and then I noticed that the guitars and basses had all the names photoshopped off as well.

Funny I thought. I didn’t even realize there was a CD inside or that’s what I was supposed to be looking at for the “cool” design. Well, later on, the person who left it for me told me to look at the CD and I thought, “Yeah, that’s pretty cool…”

Anyway, I had a dentist appointment and a long trainride today after work, so I popped in the disc.

I guess you guys aren’t fans of roots pop rock music (which is pretty big in a subversive way right now) like Richard X Heyman, New Pornographers, Wilco, Fountains of Wayne, all of March Records, etc. etc. etc…. ? This album, frankly, is 95% great. Only the last song falls a bit flat with me due to the Red Hot Chili Pepperish funkiness mixed in with some watered-down 90s angstola rock somehow mixed into a happy pop rock song like the rest of the CD.

I wonder what bands you’re into. And how old you are. I would have hated this stuff when I was younger, but as a soon-to-be 30 year old, I totally appreciate all the influences of the 70s and 80s. I love the pop rock revival that’s been gaining momentum for the past 5-10 years.

My guess is that these bands won’t go far, but who knows, maybe one will be the next Wilco or something.

Nate (since you didn’t use a real email address): I’m 31 and prefer metal, punk, and hardcore, but also enjoy music I’d call “original”.

Check out the rest of MMH. You’ll find I like a wide variety of good bands that don’t fall into the aforementioned genres, including: The Mayan Factor, Emmet Swimming, Bill Kirchen, Outkast, Elton John (one of my 70s influences), and a ton of random 80s bands.

I applaud you. That made me laugh.
My brother gave me that cd, he was dissapointed when he got it in the mail because he was expecting something useful (he’s gotten free cigarettes before). And he told me it sounded like “my kinda music”. Wrong.

Nate: I checked out your links to the Alice Donut MP3s (listened to them all), and I have to agree that they sound pretty fun. As for Helios Creed, I listened to snippets via iTMS, and can’t decide if they want to be some type of techno-industrial rock band, or straight hook-driven rock. Maybe they can’t decide either. Why they use the riff from “Sweetleaf” on “On the Dark Side of the Sun” is beyond me… they’re mixing metaphors for no reason.

Everyone else: The Copper Label CD made its way to the trash after my original post, and the trash has been taken out at least twice since then… so I don’t have the means to follow up to your comments about specific songs. That is, unless Marlboro sends me another CD.

Nate: I’m with you on the Alice Donut thing, but the last album I bought from them was “mule”… that was in my late middle school days. Are they still around?

Somebody mentioned new wave… (Darren I believe)… If anybody knows how to get their hands on a compilation called “decline of the western civilization” please let me know… as far as I know, there is a part I and part II.. one of them is dedicated to punk, old school, new wave, and a lot of interviews with members from the Germs, Circle Jerks, DI, 7 Seconds, etc… I had this on tape in my teen years, and have yet to find it on a CD. If you haven’t heard this, you might want to try and find it…. if you’ve found it, let me know where it’s available…. good stuff

Pure shit. All of it. Between this horrid swill and Budweiser’s “Real Music” radio ads, I may have to boycott the manufacturers of my two remaining vices.
I commend you for being the first thing that comes up on Google when ‘marlboro copper label’ is typed in. Spreads the word nicely, I’d say. Now if you
want to know about the *real* stuff; the obscure, the up-and-coming and truly forgotten bands that MATTER, go to my twisted domain.http://www.tangento.net

So I don’t have an email address that isn’t already jammed full with spam to put on here. Too bad for all the fans I’ll disappoint.. You’ll have to revere me in anonymity. (sike)

“Everyone’s a critic” is proven once again. Not only do you dog the CD, but others’ tastes. (I’m glad you don’t consider yourself a connoiseur of men as well as music, otherwise you might hate what I find attractive and post your feelings on that as well.) If you don’t like it, good for you, but you really have to examine the way you spend your time.

Do you really care so much about what Malboro (a cigarette company) considers ‘original’ music? They make cigarettes! That’s like saying that Barney the Dinosaur’s shade of purple is too commercial and overdone. What a fraud he is. I’ll go post it on my website now, because Barney is a sell-out. (I hate Barney and his taste in…purple. Dinosaurs should know all about color schemes! And someone out there must agree with me.. I’ll prove it to make myself feel like I am right. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do!)

Marlboro is mass-produced to meet the consumer’s demands.. is it any wonder that the free CD would somehow reflect what the masses would generally accept? I don’t hear dogs complaining “All kibble smells alike..dammit!” If your worried about originality, then roll your OWN smokes and record your OWN music. Just remember, you’ll have your OWN critics posting their disapproval of your efforts on the world-wide web! Some poser calling you a poser..

I personally don’t hate or love the CD.. at times it kind of reminds me of 8th-10th grade (I am 28) in a Jesus Jones/The Rembrandts/Tea for Two kind of way.. and at other times it’s more retro. I like the Calliope song. Perfect as a backdrop to a Marlboro Mild 100. If I wanted something truly original, I’d go smoke a peace-pipe and listen to a wicked rain dance drum beat at a Native American reservation in New Mexico.

But what do I care about a free CD? I buy a product that shortens my lifespan.

Joanna: Email addresses are spam-proofed to a certain extent here. In defense, I didn’t dog anybody’s taste in music; I simply stated “this cd sucks”… granted a bit more vehemently than that.

You do make some good points, though, re: mass appeal precluding originality (a lowest common denominator thing, I suppose). “But what do I care about a free CD? I buy a product that shortens my lifespan.” Nice one. Touche.

Time for a smoke. Now playing: “Aisle Always” by The Apex Theory off “Topsy-Turvy”

wow – i cant believe theres so much hype and hoopla about this cd. i made a search on google about it and got to this site.

i found the cd infront of our building door, supposedly for my nextdoor apartment-not-to-mention-obnoxious neighbors (who by the way left -er, i mean, “abandoned” the victorian apartment totally trashed and wrecked) after a few months of not paying rent.

so anyway, i picked it up and brought it in, listened a bit and thought it was great for BGM while playing video games so i burned it in the xbox for Gotham Racing.

as for the trashed-out next-door apartment, i wish i could have moved in.

I thought the tunes were kinda cool. Some of them anyway, some sound like absolute coppycat crap IMO. It’s a good CD to pop in after you’ve burned a fat one and you’re settling down for a long night of game playing. Makes good background noise.

I think it’s pretty cool that a google search brings you to this page first instead of something actually sponsored by Marlboro. Shows exactly how much Marlboro really gives a shit about these bands. They just want to sell smokes. That’s what they do. Can’t fault them for that.

By the way, the last song is by a band the used to be called Stereo Fuse. I have their CD and I was glad to see one of their songs on Copper Label. They have a really good song out called “everything”. I don’t get how you thought they sound anything like RHCP…? Anyone might also be interested in the unpopular band, Brand New Immortals. They’re really good as well.

Too much comments spam from this entry, so comments are closed. If you have something to say about the Copper Label CD, email me by clicking on my name, and I’ll post all comments (good or bad) here… as long as it’s not spam.

From Gary: That’s not Daniel’s email address, but here are his comments:

Its pretty safe to say that the majority of the people with something to say on this thread wound up here by doing a search on google for some combination of the words “Marlboro Copper Label”. Myself included. I was performing the search to find album art because i’m anal and don’t like my mp3 collection to not display pictures on my desktop that I’m not looking at when music I’m not listening to is playing while I do web things.

It seems that all the comments were either about the quality of the music, the quality of another posters opinion, or the quality of bands that were not on the cd in question.

The problem is if you are on the side of the argument that this music sucks because it appeals to the masses then you are by default on the side of any argument supporting that less popularity is better and a larger audience subtracts from any value. As if to say that things only holds value if only a few people understand the quality of them.

I suppose a blind belief that you are more elite then the masses and that you would never choose anything because it is a trend.

Unless you consider that with enough money pop culture could be completly made up. Broadcast and pushed in the media with the only purpose being to drive you away from it.

The calculated result is that everyone will move in a diffrent direction to a fringe movement to maintain individuality and retain freedom from the droll.

Only the investment in pop culture pays off when the fringes are pushed to the front and they become the new generation of pop culture. Just moving one step further away from the light of mass media quick enough the same people you reject profit from your rejection.

First, thanks for taking the time to hit me back on the over-a-year-old Copper Label post. I’ll apply your comment + my reply for the sake of being thorough on the website.

You say: “It seems that all the comments were either about the quality of the music, the quality of another posters opinion, or the quality of bands that were not on the cd in question.” You’re right about that, but I’m only in control of my original post, and my few follow-up comments, not the body of comments altogether… those are other Netizens’ opinions, none of which I’ve excluded or censored.

You’re actually missing the entire point of my original post, which perhaps I didn’t make clear by using such phrases as “lobster shit” and/or “pussy, cookie-cutter, radio-friendly”. My point was: Familiarity breeds contempt, and unoriginality will only garner whatever scraps of success are still available to the late-comers… and ultimately serve to draw that piece of radio-friendliness beyond pedestrian to “old and busted”.

I have no belief (blind or otherwise) that I am more elite than the masses; I am one of the masses. I expected this new-at-the-time music to actually be new; I expected my musical horizons to be broadened. It wasn’t, my expectations were not met, and I was unimpressed. It’s purely subjective. An objective reaction to my singular opinion is both ill-placed, and ultimately a waste of your time.

I agree with you that popular music (pop culture gestalt aside) is an infinitely cyclical process. What once was on the fringe becomes popular to the masses, and eventually dies to be replaced by the next nee-fringe phenomenon. Rock-and-roll in the white culture, British punk movement, new wave of British heavy metal, rap then gangster rap, 90s death and black metal. To disagree with you would be to reject an undeniable truth regarding how music (and society as a whole) works.

So, score one for you.

I simply said that the songs on that CD sucked (in my opinion). I never implied that the bands sucked; I never implied that anybody that enjoyed the songs on that particular CD was a lesser being than I; I simply stated my opinion.

That said… the omission of *your* opinion re: any of the songs on the CD in your philosophical diatribe is stark. You can think that you’re more elite than the masses by regurgitating some socio-philosophical concept or hypothesis… but that doesn’t tell any of us what you actually *think* or *feel* about that music, or any music.

Hell, it doesn’t even show any of us that you actually think for yourself.

Thanks again for checking out my website, even if unwillingly. I’m interested to hear your opinion about something.